Sheet-delivery mechanism for presses



March v 1927.

F. S. ENGLISH v SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PREssEs 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 5, 1925 Mach 1, 1927.

. 1,619,106- F. s. ENGLISH SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PRESS ES Filed Mm}, s. 1925 7 Sheath-Sheet 2 704d 3 W M March 1, 1927. ENGLISH 6 0 SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PRESSES Filed March 5. 1925 7 Sheetg-Sheet 5 M l 19 I Y arch 27 F. s. ENGLISH I SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PRESSES 7 Shets-Sheet 4 Filed March 5. 1925 1,619,106 F. s. ENGLISH SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PRESSES March l 1927.

Filed March 5. 1925 'r Sheets-Sheet 5 March 1 192 F. s. ENGLISH 'SHEBT DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PRESSBS F'iled March s. 1925 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 March 1 1927. 19,106

F. S. ENGLISH SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PRESSES Fiied March 5. 1925 "T-Sheets-Sheet 7 2/9 a 2/2 E I Patented Mar. 1, 1927.

1,619,105 PATENT OFFICE.

FRED S. ENGLISH, OF NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT.

SHEET-DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PRESSES.

Application filed March 5, 1925.. Serial No. 13,345. Y

' The present invention comprises mechanism for taking sheets as they are given up by a movable carrier such as an impression cylinder of a printing press and for delivering the sheets at a given place, such as in the form of a pile on a support or pile table.

The device is useful as applied to such machines as printing presses, cutting'and creasing presses, etc., and I have chosen here to 1 illustrate my invention as applied to a tworevolution, two-color, printing press which is suliicient to teach the application of my invention for other purposes.

There are two main ob ects accomplished bythe present invention. One is, that the press or other machine may be run faster with the present delivery devlce without materially increasing the feet-per-minute speed of the delivery members; or, the speed of the "delivery may be increased, thus permitting an additional increase in impressions per -hour of the press. I I

Another object accomplished is that all parts of the delivery device may be so removed from the cylindersof the press that complete access may be had to the cylinders or other form or plate carrying'members for the'purpose of applying make ready thereto or for any other purpose.

In the delivery devices heretofore used employing the printed side up or tape delivery it has been customary to drive the sheet carrying carriage by a crank motion or some similar device. whereby the carriage started from a dead center or stop, then increased to a maximum speed about the middle of the stroke and then gradually decreased in speed to a dead center or Zero at the extreme end of the -movement. The tapes on the carriage, in such cases, never moved at a speed equal to the cylinder from which the sheets were taken, except, possibly, for a brief period at about the middle of the stroke of the carriage and after the sheet-was placed upon the carriage. l/Vhen the leading edge of the sheet started out on the carriage tapes the latter were moving very slowly, having just started from a dead stop, and as'a result of the greater speed of the sheet over the carriage tapes on which it was placed, the sheet tended to buckle, especially if it was com posed of light stock, thereby clogging the There are certain known factors entering other hand, if the carriage run is lengthened this increases the'speed, in feet per minute,

at which it must travel in order to cover the increased distance in time with the operations of the press. This requires increased power and increases vibration, among other things, and the sheet travels excessively fast at the middle of the carriage stroke making it more difficult to stop the sheet when the carriage stops.

In the present case I take advantage of a relatively short carriage run and. provide means to prevent the sheet from slipping on the tapes as it comes off the cylinder of the press. This overcomes the objections first above mentioned. I accomplish this result by employing auxiliary means operating preferably at or near cylinder speed for primarily taking the sheet and for transferring it onto the carriage tapes at a time when the latter have reached a speed more nearly equal to that of the sheet. embodiment of my invention this auxiliary means is adjustable in order to vary the po sition at which the sheet commences to transfer onto the carriage tapes in order to vary the operation to suit the different requirements. Other advantages will be made apparent in the following detailed description of my invention.

In the drawings forming part of this application,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a rotary press having my invention applied thereto,

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of the tapes of the delivery carriage, p j

Figure 3 is a plan view of the'deli'very device, v 1 y Figure 4 is aside elevation corresponding with Figure 1 but with the delivery device and hiking mechanism moved forward to permit access to the cylinders,

Figure 5 is an enlarged side elevation of cent the cylinder,

In the fullest j at the forward or delivery end.

h after. There is a. complete inking-unit, 250-.

Figure 6 is a plan view of the same part-s Figure 7 is a side elevationofsthe mechanism for driving the carriage,

Figure 8 is a plan view thereof, and

Figure 9 is an end view of the front carriage rollers.

In Figure 1 I have shown only oneend of one side frame of a two-revolution printing press, and some of the parts of thewpress Herein there are shownthe second plateonform cylinder 12 from which the sheet .receivesits last i impression while itis =-traveling around on thefaee of the impression cylin- -15., der 11. The sheet, after traveling around ,with the cylinder 11, istaken by the deliverymech anism, .as will be pointed out hereinfor applyingink .to the, forinoiyplate on the 20-cylinder 12and thisis ITIOHHtQCL'OIl a slid-v 111g carriage 251which can be moved toward and from .the cylinder 12 by; meansv of the.

hand wheel 252 mountedonthe shaft 253t H a PllllQIl lGG on thisshaftoperating.onithe 25 39 ried upon cables and which is automatically lowered-stepby step .as thepile of sheets on --the table 233 increases in-depth, whereby gthe top of thepile, remains at a given height.

,The mechanism for lowering-the pile table ,is notshown ii mletail herein as any of the l knowndevices for this purpose may] be used.-

In Figure 1 I have shown the, inking'mech- Hanism close up to the cylinder12 for print-. .ing andin Figure l I haveshown it moved forward to permit access to the cylinders.

. InFigure 3 I. have shown the delivery-canriage close totheimpression cylinder 11 or vatvthe time a sheet leaves this cylinder,- and in Figure 1 I have shown the delivery device gtapes 207 which also engage around the wheelsorpulleys 206 mounted on the cross shaft 205 at some distance away froin the .,wheels 169. The top runs of these belts 207 lie between thetape belts ofthe reciprocatcarriage and .at: least the first part of the upper runs of the belts 207 (near the the plane of the carriage belts 220. The planes. of these two sets of belts 207 and 220 cross at some point, such as at 171 in Figure 2,. and thispoint is subject to adjustment so that ithelleading edge of the sheet maybe caused to transfer from the belts 207 to the cylinder 11) travel in a planeislightly above belts 220 at a time when the latter are travelingat about-the same; speed as the sheet. [For .this purpose I have mounted the shaft 205 in the end of an arm 202 which is pivoted on a. stud 201. Another arm 202 extending from thearm 202 and moving witl 1 ,it,,has a block203 in which there is: an adjustable set screw 204 the end of which restson .t-he bar. or rail 177. By adjusting this screw 204 the arms 202 may be rocked toalter thepositimi of=the shaft 205 and wheels 206, and thereby CODtIOlulZhE; point 171 at' which the planes of the-belts 207:;and220 cross; each-other.

formerpractice, the devices: for: carrythe delivery orstripper fingers 172 for stripping the-sheet, off :the cylinder 11 as -avell;,-;as the .cutterwheel shafts; and the 1 wheels and-gears 168, 169, 191, and-192 were generally lixed close torthe cylinder ll so that these parts.weresinthe wayiwhen access to, the -cylinder was desired. 1 In the present case theseupartsare'gall mountedto slide-away -from :the .cylinder, 'so'that all jparts of the cylinders are; accessible. The gbfiltlCkQt 1-78 is mountedbn a fixed rail 177 r :(it dieing understood :that' 1 the :parts' are duplicated,-at opposite sides. of the press) -..which is high enough for-the. opera-torto pass underuitv and to. stand between the ..opposite rails 177 andget :atanypart of the cylinder 11 between thegtransfer cylin- Hder, around to-r-the;,.platefcylinder. The @brackets 17 5, bolted firmly to the side frames :of thepress lie outside of and extendabove the cylinder 11 andvtheysupport one :end of the railsz177. Disposed some distance from the brackets .175 thereare brackets 176. bolted to the side frame iofithe press and the for- "ard ends of the rails 177 areboltedto these brackets 176. zThereis a bracket 178 hangingon each-rail 177 and they extend down inside the latter and each has a lip 170 V 1 extending overthetop of a rail, 177, so that moved entirely forward to permit. access to.

cthesebrackets areslidingly. supported upon the rails .177, These brackets 178are adapt- .ed tobe. moved along the rails 177 byineans :01": a. hand. wheel 180 attached to the shaft 181 the latter carrying .pinious 182 which mesh with the rack teeth. 183 on the under edges of the rails 177; I The teeth 183 are arranged the whole length of" the rails 177 although only a few teeth are shown in the drawings. l hen the brackets 178: area-lovedup into position nean the impression cylinder they rest against the'stop members 18% and there is a latch -36 which-tits into a. notcl'iin the collar 238- for the purpose-of holding the brackets 178 in this position.

- to each bracket 17 8, the otherends-of these =tracks "being mounted as hereinafter described.

The stripper or delivery fingers 17 2-which serve-to strip-the sheet' frointhe cylinder 11 'There is a track or slide rod 1'85 attached are mounted on a shaft 186 which is journaled in bearings in the brackets 1.78. In order to rock this shaft so that: the fingers 172 will be clear of the cylinder and the sheet during the first revolution of the cylinder in each cycle, and be close to the cylinder during the delivery period, I provide an arm 239 on the shaft 186 which is operated by a lever 240. This lever is operated by a cam (not shown) the same as in present practice. There is a top cutter shaft 18'? journaled in the brackets 178 as well as a bottom cutter shaft 188; and on the ends of these shafts are gears 190, 189, respectively. There is a gear 191 on the shaft. 193 meshing with. and driving the gear 189 and through it the gear 190. There is a gear 192 on the shaft 193, on which the gear 191 is mounted and it meshes with and is operated by the cylinder gear 19% The short shaft 108 on which the gears 191 and 192 are mounted is journaled in a bracket 195 which is fixed to the side frame of the press. From the above it will be apparent that the cutter shafts 187, 188 are positively driven. On the shafts 187, 188 are mounted cutter wheels 168, 169 driven at the same peripheral speed as the cylinder, which serve as cutters to slit or cut the sheet lengthwise as it comes off the impression cylinder as in present practice. These wheels also serve to propel the sheet as it leaves the impression cylinder. They are usually provided with removable cutter blades so that they may serve merely for propelling or for both propelling and cutting the sheet and their use is well known in the art.

I have shown a brace rod 198 connected between the brackets 178 for holding them properly spaced laterally. There is a shaft 200 journaled in the brackets 178 and on these there are carried a set of tape wheels or pulleys 199 and-around these engage the carriage tapes 220. The tapes 220 and their pulleys function like those of the prior art and for this purpose any usual clutch device is applied to the shaft 200 to permit it to revolve freely in one direction, and to hold it from revolving in the opposite direction. I have shown one form of clutch consisting of a ratchet wheel 241 attached to the shaft 200, and a pawl 2 12 acts on the teeth of this ratchet wheel to resist the turning of the shaft in one direction. The tapes 207, previously referred to, are driven through the motion of the shaft 188 and't hese tapes ipreferably travel at the same speed as the surface of the cylinder 11 so that when the sheet leaves the cylinder it will move onto these tapes which are traveling at the same speed and there will therefore beno tendency for the sheet to buckle, nor to slip on the-5e tapes.

At the forward end of the delivery there is a fixed track or slide rod 208 for sup- There is attached to the forward end of.

each slide rod or rail 185 a bracket 210 by means of the bolts 211. This bracketfcarries a tape roll 212 the roll being free to revolve in the bracket. is just outside of the slide rod 185 and it therefore operates together with the bracket 210 and the shoulder on the roller 212 to hold the slide rod 185 in position crosswise of the press. There is a small gib 213 bolted on top of the slide rod 185 and it is free to slide along on the slide rod 208 and it serves to hold the front end of the slide rod 185 from dropping downwardly.

The carriage proper consists of a pair of carriage racks 2141 having teeth on its lower edge the full length and these racks are sup ported by wheels 215, 216 journaled thereto on the slide rods.- The racks 21 1 at the back end carry a set of tape tightening wheels 217 supported on spindles and brackets attached to a member 218. This conforms with present practice so that further description of these tighteners is unnecessary.

At the front end of the carriage there is a roller 219 mounted on a shaft connected between the racks 214 and this roller is free to turn on this shaft in the direction of the arrow in Figure 7 and it is prevented from turning in the opposite direction by a pawl 244: which engages a small ratchet wheel 2-13 on the end of the roller 219. The endless tapes 220 extend around the roller 219.

The carriage is reciprocated in time with theoperation of the press by means of an intermediate gear 221 which rcvolvesfreelv on a stud 222; and this gear 221 meshes with and is driven by the gear 223 which mounted on a shaft 22 1. The shaft 221 runs freely in the brackets 176 and outside of the bracket there is a gear 225 which meshes with and is driven by the rack 226 the latter being held in position by means of a flanged roller 227. The rack 226 is reciprocated by means of a bell crank lever 228l'md the latter is rocked by means of the pitman 229 which is pivoted to the lever 230 and the latter is operated through the pitman 231 the latter being operated from the cross shaft (not shown) of the press.

The tape belts 220- may be operated the same as the corresponding belts are operated on the well known Babcock press and as has been repeatedly described in the patents of George P. Fenner. These endless belts travel around the stationary roller 199 near The slide rod 208 the cylinder 11, thence around the roller 210 which is on the forward end of the carriage, thence around the roller 21'? which is on the rear of the carriage; thence around the stationary roller 212 and thence back to the roller 199. The usual clutches will be pro vided for causing the top runs of the belts 220 to move forwardly when the carriage moves forwardly and for causing this top run to remain idle when the ca riage moves rearwardly. These devices are well known in the art so that further description thereof is unnecessary.

Operation.

As the sheet is ready for delivery after having traveled around with the cylinder 11 it is stripped from the cylinder 11 by the stripper fingers just as the grippers on the cylinder 11 release the leading; edge of the sheet; and the sheet then passes between the cutting rollers 168, 169 if these are employed, and the sheet passes on to the tape belts 207 which. are at all times traveling at a speed the same or appror-zimately the same as the surface speed of the cylinder 11, so that the sheet is taken by these belts just as fast as it leaves the cylinder 11 and therefore there will be no tendency for the sheet to buckle, regardless of the kind of stock used. When the forward edge of the sheet reaches the point 171 where the planes of the top runs of the belts 207 and the top runs of the belts 220 cross each other the edge of the sheet will commence to move onto the belts 220. At this time the upper runs of the belts 220 will be moving to the left in Figure 2 at about the same speed as the belts 207 so that these belts 220 will take the sheet from the belts 207 without buckling the sheet in any way. The sheet will be carried along on the upper runs of the belts 220 and when the carriage has completed its first forward movementfthe sheet will have entirely passed onto the belts 220 and it will lie horizontally on these belts and about midway the delivery (front to back). When the car iage makes its return stroke. the top runs of the belts and the sheet remain stationary o that when the carriage gets to the ba ck end of its stroke as shown in Figure 1 the leading edge of the sheet will lie along the top of the front carriage roller 219. When the carriage sl arts on its second forward stroke, the top runs of the belts 220 and the sheet move with it so that when the carriage completes its econd forward stroke the sheet will lie horizontally on the belts and directly over the pile table 223. lVhen the carriage makes its second return stroke toward the cylinder 11, the tapes 220, operating as in the ordinary Babcock press, will peel off from under the sheet and the latter will fall upon the pile table 283. These operations will be repeated at each complete operation. of the press By means of the hand crank 180 the entire mechanism may be telescoped into the position shown in Figure 4 leaving only the bracket 175 and the rail 177 at each side of the press and at the end of the cylinder, so that the operator may step in under the rail 177 and stand up straight betweenthese rails and he will have access to both cylinders 11, and 12 which latter will be entirely uncovered. It may be noted that the shaft 193 does not extend across the press so that at this time it will not be in the way of the operator. At the timethis telescoping operation takes place the carriage should be at the extreme front end of its stroke or directly over the pile table; or else the pitman 226 should be disconnected from the lever 228 by detaching them at the pin 234, so-that regardless of the position of the parts of the press the carriage may readily move forward. In order to facilitate replacing the connection between the pitman 226 and the lever 228 I have provided a hand wheel 235 which revolves the shaft 224 for the purpose of moving the parts back to their original position. It will be apparent that the entire delivery mechanism may thus be telescoped instead of telescoping only a part of it.

It may be found desirable to adjust the point 171 at which theplanes of the upper runs of the belts 207 and 220 cross each other according to the character of the work and the nature of the stock which is being handled. This may readily be accomplished by turning the set screw 204 to either raise or lower the arm 202 which carries the shaft 205, on which the tape rollers 206 aremounted. As the lever 20.2 is elevated to ahigher position the point 171 will be moved to the left in Figure 2 so that the sheets will begin to move onto the tapes 220 when the latter have reached a relatively higher speed; whereas, if the arm 202 is lowered, the point 171 will be shifted to the right in Figure 2 and the sheets will commence to move onto the belts 220 at a time when the latter are moving at a relatively slower speed. From this it will be apparent that the point 171 may be varied to suit any condition of operation.

Having described my invention what I claim is:

1. The combination of a press having a movable impression member for holding the sheet as it is printed, and means for delivering the sheets from said impression member, comprising a reciprocating carriage for carrying the sheets, and belts arranged to receive the sheets from said impression member and adapted to transfer them to said carriage for delivery by the latter, said belts being adjustable to alter the position at which the sheet transfers from said belts to said carriage 2. The combination of a press having a from said belts to said carriage.

sheet as it is printed, and means for delivering the sheets from said impression member, comprising a reciprocating carriage for carrying the sheets, and belts tI'ZLVGlID approxnnatel at the same saeed b n A as said impression member, arranged to re ceive the sheets therefrom, and adapted to transfer the sheets to said carriage while the latter is in motion for delivery by said carriage, said belts being adjustable to alter the position at which the sheet transfers 3. The combination of a press having a movable impression member for holding the ering the sheets from said impression member, comprising a reciprocatingcarriage for carrying the sheets, and belts having fixed locations horizontally and traveling approximately at the same speed as said impression member, arranged to receive the sheets therefrom and adapted to transfer the sheets to said carriage whilethe latter is in motion, for delivery by said carriage, said belts being adjustable vertically to alter the position at which the sheet transfers from said belts to said carriage.

4. The combination of a press having a movable impression member for holding the sheet as it is printed, and means .for delivering the sheets from said impression member, comprising a reciprocating carriage for carrying the sheets, and means for operating said carriage whereby its speed is increased as it moves away from said impression member, and belts traveling at approximately the same speed as said impression member, arranged to receive the sheets therefrom and adapted to transfer the sheets to said earriage While the latter is in motion, for delivery by said carriage, said belts being adjustableto alter the position at which the sheet transfers from said belts to said carriage.

5. Th combination of a press having a movable impression member for holding the sheet as it is printed, and means for delivering the sheets from said impression member, comprising a reciprocating carriage having belts for carrying the sheets, means for operating said carriage whereby its speed is increased as it moves away from said impression member, and belts disposedintermediate said carriage belts, and traveling approximately the same speed as said impression member, arranged to receive the sheets therefrom and adapted to transfer the sheets to said carriage belts While the latter are in motion, and adjustable means for cnan in the relative inclination of said bolts to alter the position at which the sheet transfers from one set of belts to the other. 3. The comb nation of a press having a movable impression member for holding the sheet as it is printed, and means for delivering the sheets from said impression mem- 1 her, comprising a reciprocating carriage havmg belts for carrying the sheets, means for:

operating said carriage whereby'its speed is increased as it moves away from said impression member, and belts traveling at substantially the same speed as said impression member, and receiving the sheets therefrom and adapted to transfer the sheets to said carriage while the latter is moving away from said impression member, and adjustable means for changing the relative inclination of said belts to alter the position at which the sheet transfers from one set of sheet as it is printed, and means for deli f belts to the other.

7. The oombinationofa press having a movable impression member for holding the sheet as it is printed, and meansfor' delivering the sheets from said impression member, comprising a reciprocating carriage having belts for carrying the sheets, other belts arranged to receive the sheets from said impression member and to deliver them upon the belts, said first belts and said second belts having runs arranged in intersecting planes, and adjustable means for changing the relative inclination of said belts to alter the position at which the sheet transfers from one set of belts to the other.

8. The combination of a press having a movable impression member for holding the sheet as it is printed, and means for delivering the sheets from said impression member, comprising a reciprocating carriage having belts for carrying the sheets, other belts traveling at substantially the same speed as said impression member, for receiving the sheet from the latter, said latter belts being disposed between said carriage belts, said first belts and said second belts having their adjacent runs arranged in intersecting planes, and adjustable means for changing the relative inclination of said belts to alter the position at which the sheet transfers fr in one set of belts to the other.

9. The combination of a press having a movable impression member for holding the sheet as it is printed, and means for delivering the sheets from said impression mem ber, comprising a reciprocating carriage having belts for carrying the sheets, other belts for receiving the sheets from the impression member, and for delivering them upon the carriage belts, said first and said second belts having runs arranged in intersecting planes, and adjusting means for changing the relative inclination of said runs to alter the position at which the sheet transfers from one set of belts to the other;

10. The combination of a press having a movable impression member for holding the sheet as it is printed, and means for delivering the sheets from said impression member, comprising. a reciprocating carriage having belts for carrying the sheets, other belts for receiving the sheets from the impression member and for delivering them upon the carriage belts, said first and said second belts having runs arranged in intersecting planes, and means for adjusting the plane of said second belts to alter the point at which said latter belts transfer the sheets to the carriage belts.

11. In a press the combination of an impression cylinder, rollers between which the sheet passes as it leaves said cylinder, a reciprocating carriage for delivering the sheets, a track on which the carriage is adapted to be moved away from said cylinder, a second track and means movable thereon away from said cylinder, said rollers being carried on said movable means.

12. In a press the combination of an impression cylinder, a reciprocating carriage for delivering the sheets, belts arranged to receive the sheets from said cylinder and adapted to convey them to and deliver them upon said carriage, a track and means movable thereon toward and from said cylinder and carrying said belts.

13. In a press the combination of an impression cylinder, rollers and stripper fingers co-acting with the sheet as it leaves said cylinder, a reciprocating carriage for delivering the sheets, belts arranged to receive the sheets from said cylinder and to carry them to and deliver them upon said carriage, a track and means movable thereon toward and from said cylinder and carrying said belts, said rollers and said stripper lingers.

Signed at the city and county of: Nev London and State of Connecticut, this 5th day of December, 1923.

FRED S. ENGLISH. 

